Is Donald Trump supporting Vladimir Putin to drive wedge between Russia and China? Geopolitics deconstructed here...

Why has the US taken a U-turn from its 80-year-old policy of opposing the USSR and then Russia?

After providing Ukraine with arms and ammunition worth about $162 billion to fight against Russia, why did Washington suddenly stop all types of help including sharing intelligence input?

What will US President Donald Trump gain by bringing the Russia-Ukraine War to an end and denying NATO membership to Ukraine?

US-Russia bonhomie

The 47th US President shocked the world, when he dialed his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on February 12, less than a month after being in office. 

The defence and business representatives, besides the diplomats of the two countries, met in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, but  Ukraine was kept out of the talks. 

In the infamous and unfortunate spat in the Oval Office of the White House, Donald Trump publicly rebuked his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy and accused him of gambling with World War 3  and the lives of his countrymen in a war, which he would not win. 

Donald Trump Jettisons Ukraine

Earlier he also said in the most unambiguous terms that it was not feasible for Ukraine to return to the pre-war border. 

Why is he so kind to Moscow that the US President has jettisoned the old ally and backed the hitherto arch-enemy?

Donald Trump taking lessons from Richard Nixon?

Analysts believe, Donald Trump has taken a leaf out of Richard Nixon's book, who visited China in 1972, praised it, opened trade relations with the communist regime and normalised the vexed ties so that he could use Beijing against the then USSR.

Analysts believe, Donald Trump is inching towards Moscow so that he could drive a wedge between Russia and China, the country that has emerged as the only nation capable of challenging the US and disrupting the geopolitical dynamics of the unipolar world. 

Political observers believe Trump wants to win Russia on the side of the US so that he can focus on Beijing. 

Does Donald Trump back Russia?

Besides bringing the Ukraine War to an end without returning Russia- captured areas of Donetsk, Donbas, Sevastopol, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia, Trump has also refused to let Ukraine become a member of the trans-Atlantic defence bloc. 

He may soon withdraw the economic sanctions imposed on Russia and encourage US  firms to invest in that country. 

Analysts believe the US President may target China afterward by getting it involved in a tariff war and a trade war.

US strategy to wean Russia away from China

If Trump succeeds in weaning away Moscow from China, he may go on its expansion streak in the Indian Ocean and the Indo-Pacific areas to counter China.

He may also try to checkmate Beijing in the South China Sea by placating Russia and giving it concessions in other regions. 

Despite the bonhomie between Russia and China on a number of issues, Beijing will never like the idea of Moscow standing by the US or ignoring the fact that Washington has given concessions to its arch-rival. 

The political chessboard has been laid out, the pawns are ready and now the US has to make the next move to checkmate China.